American Justice

You know that idiot that takes a left turn at a light right in front of you? Well, that was me last month, and as a result, I got into a minor accident when I slid across the rain into a pickup truck. I told the guy we should call the police for insurance purposes, just to make sure he didn't have any problems getting his truck fixed since it was my fault. Because of my consideration for his situation, I was cited and told that I would have to go to court for failure to yield the right of way.

The cop played it off like it was no big deal and told me, "We have to cite accidents, but if you go to court and talk to the prosecutor, he will take the points off your license and you will just have to pay the ticket." I appreciated his candor and figured I would just suck it up, go to court, and have the charges reduced--easy-peasy.

So, on Tuesday, I went to court. Oh the stories I could tell. The court was the most confusing, unorganized place I have ever been. No one knew what they were doing, and when anyone asked a question, the bitch of a clerk just yelled at them and made them feel stupid. There was no record for me, and she told me I had to notify them seven days before the court date, but I wasn't contesting, I just wanted the charges reduced, so she told me to go to the window and talk to them, and when I did they told me I didn't have to check in, so I took my seat. When I took my seat, they told us all if we were pleading guilty to the ticket to get in line, but when we got in line, the clerk yelled at us again and told us if we had already checked in to get sit down, the guy behind me just shook his head and laughed, and we sat back down--keep in mind I had yet to check in and wasn't even sure an hour into this ordeal if my ticket was going to be addressed.

After a few shoplifting and DUI cases, the judge took a fifteen minute recess, reconvened, tried some driving without a license cases, took a fifteen minute recess, reconvened, ignored the people like myself who hadn't actually committed a crime, tried some more cases, and took another recess while the good people of Central Jersey who had either changed lanes without signaling or failed to yield had to sit perplexed and annoyed while the criminals got to go home.

Justice is a business, not and ideal. They know they are wearing you out. After three hours you just want to go home. A girl who was driving 20-25 miles over the limit got scolded, fined and sent home. All of us who had made a minor mistake were looking around wondering why we were saved for last. We found out. You don't "talk" to the prosecutor and get the points taken off of your licence. The violation gets reported to the DMV, the DMV puts points on your license, and they report the points to your insurance provider who then jacks up your premium. So, if you want the court to reduce your violation, you have to pay them $400 to lie to the DMV. And it's all "legal." Sound like a bribe or extortion? That's what I thought too.